1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a blade assembly for a wet-shave type razor and is directed more particularly to a blade assembly having thereon a replaceable shaving aid body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the prior art to provide a razor blade assembly with a shaving aid strip affixed to one of the skin engaging components of the assembly. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,266, issued Mar. 4, 1986, to Chester F. Jacobson, for example, there is shown such a strip attached to a blade assembly cap portion. The shaving aid comprises a formed mixture of a hydrophobic material and a water leachable hydrophilic material, which may serve as a lubricant, moisturizer, conditioner, or the like. During shaving, water present activates and causes leaching out of the hydrophilic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,255, issued May 5, 1986, to Chester F. Jacobson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,729, issued May 13, 1986, to Chester F. Jacobson, are further examples of razor blade cartridges having shaving aid members attached thereto.
It has been suggested in the prior art, as for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,821, issued Oct. 16, 1979, to Anthony M. Booth, that the shaving aid may be one of any available diverse materials appropriate for diverse applications, such as a lubricating agent, a depilatory agent, a cleaning agent, a medicinal agent, a cosmetic agent, and the like. In practice, shaving aid strips available to the public are of the lubricating type. Razor blade assemblies are provided with shaving aids of the lubricating type because lubrication of the skin is desired almost all the time, whereas the other possible attributes of shaving aids, such as a medicinal attribute, for example, may be desirable only occasionally.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a blade assembly in which the shaving aid is replaceable, such that for given occasions a specialized shaving aid may be substituted for a lubricating shaving aid for one or two shaves, and thereafter the specialized shaving aid replaced by the previous, or another, lubricating shaving strip.